China's state planner yesterday said it would jointly launch with China Construction Bank (0939) 300 billion yuan (HK$366.8 billion) worth of funds for investment in strategic and emerging industries.

Industries for investment include information technology, advanced equipment, new materials and new energy vehicles, the National Development and Reform Commission said.

Meanwhile, new Chinese bank loans unexpectedly fell in May, with credit growth slowing slightly as policymakers sustained efforts to clamp down on off-balance sheet shadow loans to rein in risks in the world's second-largest economy.

Data from the central bank showed banks extended 1.15 trillion yuan in net new yuan loans in May. Banks extended a record 13.53 trillion yuan in new loans last year, 7 percent more than the previous record in 2016.

China is in the third year of a regulatory push to reduce risks in the financial system and regulators continue to roll out measures to improve supervision and risk control in the financial sector.

However, there are expectations the central bank could loosen some of its policy settings to ensure the crackdown on risks and resulting hit to credit growth does not hurt the real economy.